Screening arrangements are used in the mining and similar industries to size and separate, or screen, particulate materials. Certain screening arrangements include modular screening systems which are composed of a plurality of modular and replaceable components, such as screening panels. The screening panels are mounted on the screening arrangement to define an overall screening surface. The overall screening surface of the screening arrangement is made up of the individual screening surfaces of the screening panels.
Current screening panels generally include a plurality of ribs or surface features extending across an opening. The ribs define the screening surface through which particulate material is directed. During a typical screening process, the screening arrangement is vibrated and particulate material is deposited on it. The configuration and vibration is such that the material migrates in a preferential feed direction on the screening arrangement. More specifically, the screening openings allow smaller material particles to pass through the screening surface while larger material particles are prevented by the ribs from passing through the screening surface, thereby achieving desired sizing separation of the material.
Certain screening panels, however, can suffer several disadvantages. For example, the surface features of certain screening panels can have flat, planar surfaces. These flat surfaces may prevent particulate materials from being properly screened. For example, when the feed direction is parallel to the planar ribs or surface features, relatively smaller material particles which should desirably pass through the screening surface may become entrained on the planar surface, in the direction of flow, and experience difficulty passing through the screening surface. Likewise, irregularly-shaped particles having similar dimensions to the spacing between the ribs and/or surface features may become lodged in the spacing while traveling in a parallel direction, blocking passage of the particles that could travel through the openings.
In addition, the ribs or surface features may stretch or deform, thereby blocking materials that would otherwise pass through the screening surface. For example, the flexibility and shape of the ribs, as well as their geometrical relationship to one another, may allow them to flex excessively apart from one another, effectively expanding the screening openings to a size which allows particles that are unacceptably large to pass through.
Thus, a need exists for a screening panel that allows for more efficient screening of materials by interrupting the parallel relationship between the feed travel direction and the orientation of the surface features and/or ribs, as well as by strengthening the surface features relative to feed direction.